Secrets Of A Buried Past
by TheHunter
Summary: An Inquisitor stumbles onto a secret that dates back to the Heresy. A secret that may get him killed. Rated R for later chapters.
1. Prologue

This is my first attemp at writing a Warhammer novel. Warhammer is copyright Games-Workshop.  
  
  
  
  
  
Greetings. My name is Inquisitor Roscoe DeSoto of Ordo Malleus. I once had the dubious privledge of meeting with a certain individual some time ago. Upon first meeting, my first instinct was to slaughter him where he stood. But something in those eyes, in his manner, indeed, something in the fabric of his very soul stayed my hand. For the first time in my life, I was afraid. It all happened during my stay on Arx, near the Eye of Terror. I was investigating several attempts of the forces of Chaos to breach the alternate route out of the Eye. ( The only other route being the Cadian Gate.) I was in my temporary quarters after a fruitless day at the grindstone. This particular assignment was very puzzling to me, so puzzling and mysterious that my patience was giving way to frustration. Some people say that every Inquisitor enjoys a good mystery. I don't. What was so very peculiar was that every time the Chaos forces pushed against the Arx defences, they would pull back at just the moment they could have triumphed. Being from Ordo Malleus and sesitive to the Warp, I could sense a presence lashing out to the forces of Chaos, beating them back mercilessly. Who or what was doing this? It was so very baffling, because I knew I was very close. I was convinced that it had to do with the Dark Angels, for once every battle was done, I could trace the essence of someone's soul to what is now the collapsed gravity well of what was once Caliban. Could the Lion have left behind some sort of defense against the forces he so despised?  
  
"No."  
  
I swivelled around in my seat, and in the same motion drew the laspistol that was resting in my shoulder holster, only to find no one there. I knew I had heard someone. Delving into the inside pocket of my armored trench coat, I fished out my psi-tracker. There! Someone is here! The tracker indicated a strong presence in the far corner of my room. Fearing that a Chaos Daemon or some other warpspawn had infiltrated the base defences, I dove for my psi-cannon on my bed, about 10 feet away. I didn't make it. I smacked headlong into some sort of invisible shield. Turning my thoughts to secondary weapons, I reached for my force sword,the Bane Blade, communing with it even as I drew it from the scabbard. It was when I had my sword halfway out of the sheath did I see him. He stood taller than me, about the same height as a space marine. His red and black robes reminded me of a Chaos Noise Marine I once had the misfortune of meeting. His eyes were tortured as only he could be. Looking back, I can't explain why I did not wholly draw my sword and finish him. He looked at me and saw the indicision in my eyes. He spoke:  
  
"So death will not yet find me." His voice was like thunder, rumbling through both the physical and non-physical planes.  
  
" You are he who hunts me." He stated  
  
Regaining my wits, I replied , "I am."  
  
" Why?" He asked.  
  
" Because I wish to know how and why you keep driving back the Chaos forces. You are obviously one of them, yet you hinder them. I want to know why."  
  
His eyes glimmered. " Ah yes, the eternal question of why. Is it not enough that I do it? Who are you to question my motives?"  
  
Needless to say, this line of questioning was confusing me. I knew he knew who and what I was, so he was not questioning my identity or my purpose. It ran deeper than that. Then it struck me that he was questioning my ability. My ability to understand the answer he would give to my question. What answer could he give me that I could not understand?  
  
" I think I can handle any answer you give me." I replied, still keeping my hand on the hilt of my sword.  
  
He looked out the only window of my room. " Once, long ago, I had everthing my heart desired. Then, in an hour of great need, I turned my back on those who trusted and loved me. I betrayed everything I believed in. I did this out of a greed and selfishness so absoulute that they had clouded my judgement. It was not until afterwards that I realized that my actions were orchstrated by the Chaos Gods. But my then It was too late. I had committed an act so despicable that I could never forgive myself. In the years that followed, I roamed aimlessly, keeping to myself whenever possible. Whenever I surfaced, all the emotions that make the Chaos Gods what they are surfaced with me. Then, I realized my only hope was redemption. And the only way to do that was to find the other half of a two piece puzzle. That is why I am here. I am searching for the other piece. When I leave, your task of preventing the forces you so hate will increase tenfold."  
  
A buzz from the comlink on my desk. " Sir, you asked to be informed of any activity in this vicinity."  
  
I looked back to where the figure stood. He was gone, vanished.  
  
" Sir?" the comlink hummed  
  
" Yes, what is it?"  
  
" A squad of Deathwings have just arrived at bay 3."  
  
I sat bolt upright. I felt like a landraider had just been dropped on me. It all at once occured to me with whom I had been conversing, and now the Deathwings........  
  
" May the Emporer preserve my soul.........." 


	2. Chapter 2

standard disclaimer.  
  
  
  
  
  
I glanced swiftly around my room. The Dark Angels were headed down the corridors of the base. Their destination? My cubicle. Evidently, they had pinned the Fallen One's location within the base. Shit. It was well know within certain circles that the Dark Angels hate for the Space Wolves was surpassed only by their hate for meddling Inquisitors. I glanced hurridly around the room, searching. Not finding any practicle way to escape, I drew my force sword across my knees, switched off the safety on my laspistol and awaited the pending interrogation. The irony of the situation was not lost upon me. The door swooshed open, and there they stood: A Death Wing Commander and his entourage. I pretended not to notice them, but in reality I took in every detail. One commander, eight marines, and one librarian. The unit commander glanced around the room, searching. I could feel the librarian sweeping the room on the non-physical planes, several times bumping into my mental sheild. I still pretended not to notice them, at least until the commander stepped right in front of me.  
  
" Where is he?" he asked.  
  
" To whom would you be referring to?" I countered.  
  
" You know damn well to whom I refer."  
  
" I do?"  
  
The commander scowled fiercly and gestured to the librarian. I felt the pressure on my mental shield increase. It got more and more painful, until I could take no more without betraying it outwardly. So I gripped my force sword, and did a little "poking" of my own. I heard the librarian give a grunt, but whether it was in pain or frustration, I know not. I think the ordeal would have erupted into bloodshed, had the base commander buzzed my comlonk with a message.  
  
" Sir, the Chaos traitors are resuming their assualt."  
  
At this welcome interruption, I stood up, preparing to go back to work. The Dark Angels, however, were not finished.  
  
" I have a duty to preform and you are hindering it." He said.  
  
" Ditto." I replied.  
  
I got the distinct impression that the commande was about to bring his armored fist down on my head, and he probably would have except for one thing: As the Fallen One had told me, the task of defending the base would increase tenfold when he left. Apperently, he left, fore in the corridors of the base, I could hear the screams of the personel as the Chaos troops breached the outer defenses. Hefting my weapons, I dodged around the Death Wing commander and took off down the corridors. My first encounter was with a Korne Berserker who was rending the corpse of a human. Bringing my bolter to bear, I squeezed a round off from the hip.  
  
" Die you treasonous scum!"  
  
The bolt impacted into the Berserker's helmet eyepiece, burying itself in his skull before exploding with a muffled "pop", spraying bone and metal shards and brain matter all over the surrounding walls. The next resistence I ran into was a Chaos trooper who had his back to me. He obviously felt very confident of himself, because he wore no helmet. Not wanting to waste a bolt, I drew my laspistol, intent on drilling him throught the skull. Someone beat me to it, however, and I winced as a sream of bolter fire spewed past me and stitched into to Chaos soldier. I didn't even notice that the Dark Angels had followed me. Several more Chaos troops emerged from the corridor in front of us, only to be punctured by more bolter fire that painted the surrounding walls a dark scarlet.  
  
" They are trying to get to the command center. The base's internal defenses have been damaged." A marine said after he had plugged into the base computer.  
  
" I got the internal defenses. You guys get to the command center." I ordered.  
  
I could tell I had made a mistake when I used that tone of voice on the Dark Angels. They all glared at me like I was a chaos daemon. I didn't stat long enough to give them time to argue. I loped off down the hallway. Suddenly, the floors quaked under my feet, and for the second time in less than an hour, I hit my head on a solid object. Only this time I passed out................ 


	3. Chapter 3

Standard Disclaimer.  
" Daddy, where does this go?" asked a small blonde-headed boy of his father.  
  
" Well, let us see what you have got there, Roscoe." His daddy replied, opening the box and surveying its contents.  
  
" These are all books. Take them up to your Mother in the Library."  
  
" Yes Daddy."  
  
Crimean Desoto watched as his little boy trotted of to find his Mother. He placed his hands on the small of his back and stretched, the bones popping back into their rightful places. He squinted up at the blue sky, his thoughts stretching back to his days on Ulani.. His days as a bounty hunter in the reluctant employ of Adeptus Arbites, hunting a band of ruthless criminals known only as " Shadows" Upon the successful destruction of the band, the Arbitrator Judge conscripted Crimean into the Arbitrators. He served faithfully on Necromunda for 10 years before he lost his arm to a hive ganger shotgun. He was sent back to Ulani to live out the rest of his days. He eventually married and had a son, Roscoe. Not wanting Roscoe to follow his footsteps as an Arbitrator or bounty hunter, Crimean took a Mechanicus commission to the Desert planet Masali, where Adeptus Mechanicus was experimenting with new water production technology. Thus, here he was moving into his new quarters. Roscoe seemed to thrive in the arid climate of this planet. He was intensely curious about all the Flora and Fauna of the planet. Roscoe's already blond hair was bleached pure white, his body sported a healthy tan. He was taking lessons from one of the Tech Priests on general mechanics. One small worry was that he was being exposed to other elements of the Imperium as well. Crimean thought about the day when Roscoe would make the choice of what he wanted to do. Would he be a Tech Priest? Or maybe a .....  
  
" Daddy what are those?"  
  
Crimean was jerked out of his reverie to see his son pointing at something on the horizon. He picked up the magoptics and looked through them at the approaching object. It was a vehicle. And it carried what could only be an Inquisitor. Two Imperial Guardsmen and one Inquisitor to be exact.  
  
" Roscoe, go into the house and stay there till I call you."  
  
The vehicle approached at a steady pace. Despite the heat, Crimean felt cold. What could an Inquisitor want? The vehicle pulled up beside the porch. The men got out.  
  
" Pack your bags, your leaving."  
  
Crimean was shocked. " W-Why?" He ventured.  
  
His answer came when the vehicle that the Inquisitor came in was torn into shreds by an explosion. The shrapnel hit him like a blast to the gut. His last thought was of Roscoe....  
  
Roscoe regained consciousness slowly, a cut on his forehead bleeding into his left eye. He raised himself to his knees and shook the cobwebs out of his head. He used the point of his force sword as a cane and pushed himself to his feet. It all rushed back into his head, a gush of memory. He stumbled a little at first, but his steps became increasingly stronger as he made his way to the manual comp station for the internal defenses. The thought of loosing Arx to the forces of Chaos was, well..unthinkable. He reached the station and sat down in the vacant chair. He studied the ancient runes on the table in front of him. He had studied these runes under a Tech Priest when he was little, before the invasion of his planet.. he shook those thoughts from his head as pressed on of the runes. The table came to life, some of the runes showing red. These were the ones he had to manually press. Only when all the runes were green would the defenses work. He presses each red rune in turn, changing it to green. At the last red rune, he prayed fervently to the Emperor and pressed. The alarm rang throughout the base as the internal defenses erected disintegrator fields in the doorways, activated the internal guns, and commenced to blow the hell out of anything that had the taint of chaos. How the computer knew friend from foe was a mystery, the computer being constructed from a STC that was now lost in time. Roscoe clipped a small piece of plastic to his lapel that would allow him to walk through the disintegrator fields, and went to see how his dubious allies were faring. He arrived at Central Command in time to see the Dark Angel slaughter the last of the Khorne troops. Roscoe dialed a small device on his wrist and the thick blast doors that closed off Central groaned open. The Base commander and his officers were entrenched in the middle of the room, ready for a last ditch defense against the Chaos traitors. Upon seeing the Inquisitor, they lowered their bolters.  
  
" Is it over?" they asked.  
  
" For the moment, perhaps. I suggest you call the nearest Guard unit and get some replacement troops." Roscoe turned from them to where he had last seen the Dark Angels.  
  
They were gone... Roscoe pondered this for a moment. He turned back to the commander,  
  
" I will stay until reinforcements arrive. Then I must file my report. You have a pleasant day." 


End file.
